Abdul Shakoor, Syed Ahmad Ali Hassan, Tafazzul-e haque Mahmud, Azeem Taj, Aflak Rasheed, Sarah Riaz, Zafar Iqbal.
Frequency of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Earthquake Survivors.
Proceeding Shaikh Zayed Postgrad Med Comp Jan ;21(2):69-74.

Objectives: This srudy was done to assess the frequency of symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in earthquake survivors. Design and place of study: It was an observational study conducted on in-patient survivors of Oct 8. 2005 earthquake, admitted in different departments of Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore affiliated with Federal Postgraduate Medical Institute. Subject and methods: The patients who had received different physical injuries and their surviving attendants were administered with a check-list of symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) diagnostic criteria of DSM-IV. Results: A total of 124 survivors (85 patients and 39 attendants) were identified and administered with the check-list. In all 52 (41.94%) of the survivors, 38 (44.77%) of patients and 14.(35.90%) of the attendants fulfilled the entire DSM-IV symptom criteria for PTSD. Among the patients more females i.e. 27 (52.94%) as compared to males i.e. 11 (32.32%) fulfilled the symptom criteria for PTSD. Conclusion: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder symptoms arc very common in the survivors of an earthquake, an evidence to sensitize health care providers to organize and implement timely psychosocial assessment and interventions.

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